:theoreticalplayground.co.uk

Developed by researchers from Switzerland, Italy, Germany, France and the UK, Tai-Chi (Tangible Acoustic Interfaces for Computer-Human Interaction) is a system that can transform any real object into a touch-sensitive computer interface. A computer is used to read values via piezoelectric sensors which are attached to the object. A recent paper from Design 2006 discusses the system in further detail:

Principally, there are two kinds of stimulation of physical objects: passive and active modes. In the passive mode any change in the acoustic properties of an object, due to its vibration as a consequence of interaction (knocking, tapping etc.), is detected and then used to estimate the location of the interaction. With regard to the active mode, the absorption of acoustic energy at the contact point of an object surface must be ascertained.

Currently there are three passive methods under investigation for tangible acoustic interfaces: time delay of arrival (TDOA), time reversal and acoustic holography.

The paper discusses the implementation of Acoustic Holography using the Rayleigh-Sommerfeld algorithm. The following is an audiovisual installation called Sound Rose using the Tai-Chi system.

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A couple of examples of what we can expect from the Wiimote. Firstly a drum machine which uses two software programs from bobsomers. The user can play drums by flicking the Wiimote & pressing a button. The latest version of the GlovePIE program has support for multiple Wiimotes as well!

This second video shows a Wiimote controlling parameters on a Nord Lead by mapping the controller messages.

We’re looking forward to future developments and projects!

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VoodooIO is a physical interface which can be constructed, adapted and modified in real-time using a collection of basic controls (Voodoo Pins). The controls are self-contained embedded devices that communicate with a computer via a substrate material, using Pin&Play technology. The controls have pin-like connectors to allow socketless attachment to the substrate material, which acts as a power supply and a network medium. The Voodoo Pins, such as buttons, switches, knobs, sliders and lights, can be positioned anywhere on the material.

VoodooIO adopts a vision of the physical interface as a malleable material that can be shaped and adapted, rather than a device with a predetermined form or prescribed use. The intention is to overcome the obstacles that prevent hardware interfaces from being as easily appropriable by users as graphical user interfaces (and software applications in general) have become, blurring the boundaries between interface developers, interaction designers and end-users.

A video example which was submitted to the SIGGRAPH ’06 conference.

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The Semekrys was developed by Nicolas Fournel in the early 1990s. It uses four touch-screens, 2 were continuous controls and the other 2 had 96 square zones to locate the position of the finger, to send MIDI data to an Amiga 2000.

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Spencer Kiser has created a turntable that lets you arrange and play colours in real time. The spinCycle uses a camera to analyse the colours (red, yellow or blue) on the turntable before outputting sound and a visual display.

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